Geomythology: Unusual Circumstances - Assignment Example

HERO MYTHS Affiliation HERO MYTHS Gods play a very important part in hero myths. A hero in the myths is often given birthto under unusual circumstances. The hero faces eminent danger when they are young but they are fortunately able to overcome these dangers with the great powers that they have in their possession. It is believed that the gods grant the heroes these great powers as a normal human being is incapacitated to possess them. In most of the hero myths, the hero usually travels to the underworld when he reaches maturity.

This is in a bid to explore the vast powers that he or she possesses. The underworld is believed to be the dwelling place of the earth-goddess. It is this earthly goddess that will add feministic principles and instincts to this masculine ego of the mythical hero. The hero is equally portrayed has having redemptive powers. These are the powers that he or she receives from the gods. The hero has the power to uplift the entire human race from the dismal conditions that it lives in. this is clearly a potential that can only be performed by the gods.

Mortal women equally play a role in the hero myths. The heroes are often considered to be an isolated case due to their uniqueness. This isolation makes the hero to develop a close relationship with mortal women. The purpose of this relationship is to offer the hero support in domestic contentment. The myths argue that if the hero were to undertake domestic contentment, then he would be greatly swayed from his purposeful tasks. The civilization of the ancient Greek has been considered as the most brilliant in the history of the world.

Most of the credit has been given to the Greece mythical heroes. The heroes often travelled afar and set up cities in the places that they went to. It is for example indicated that the western civilization was as a result of the spread of the Greek culture by the heroes. It is the divine power that the Greek heroes had that made them to easily spread the Greek culture as well as be a caviling force without resistance from people. Adrienne Mayor states that stories about the bones of the heroes were often told in many ancient cultures like China, Greece and India.

He underscores that these stories were often said so as to accounts for animal fossils that the people had never seen while in their life state (Mayor, 2004). He equally indicates that the ancient Greeks believed that the bones of the heroes are the remains of giants and monsters that had been destroyed by the gods and buried deeply in the ground. The bones of the heroes had a lot of significance to the Greeks for the carrying out of hero cults. The ancient Greeks preserved these bones of the heroes in specific tombs or shrines so as to honor the hero who had done wonders to save the people in his lifetime.

The customs of the Greeks demanded that the heroes ought to be honored in a specified manner (Mayor, 2004). They believed that by preserving these bones, the heroes would be appeased and they would have enough reasons to continue advancing a myriad of favors to the people. Hero stories have been adopted with regard to their mythic patterns and themes in the modern world especially as regards to Christian mythology. Many of the contemporary Christian writers in the modern society argue that the elements of Christianity and specifically the story of Jesus Christ is a myth.

These writers associate Christ with a mythical hero. Reference Mayor, A. (2004). Geomythology. Elsevier